Demand growing for open access science texts and tools: Nature’s free Scitable service is providing textbook-grade material to anyone with an Internet connection, and it’s just one of a number of free services that scientific publishers are experimenting with http://tinyurl.com/22sv23n

Cancún analysis: Dawn breaks on low-carbon world: The ‘triumph’ of Cancún’s climate negotiations may be largely diplomatic, but the foundations for a new, low carbon world are already being laid regardless http://tinyurl.com/257gd88

Cancún success may be skin deep: Exhausted delegates said the talks were a victory. But in the cold light of morning, many will agree that their diplomatic triumph offered little tangible progress http://tinyurl.com/2wm3soc

Rooting for swarm intelligence in plants: Researchers argue for a type of vegetative group decision making usually associated with animals http://tinyurl.com/3afhysy

Details of Microbe’s Extraordinary Maintenance and Repair System Revealed: Scientists have discovered how a network of repair proteins enables bacteria to prioritize the repair of the most heavily used regions of the DNA molecules that carry the instructions necessary for http://tinyurl.com/326crbe

Face memory peaks late, after age 30: Finding challenges view that all mental faculties max out in young adulthood http://is.gd/ixmgC

Exoplanets cast doubt on astronomical theories: Planets in other solar systems are set to change ideas on how worlds form http://is.gd/iqoy4

Fetal genome mapped from mother’s blood for first time: A fetus has had its entire genome mapped from a sample of its mother’s blood, opening the door to new prenatal diagnoses of genetic disease http://tinyurl.com/28wok7e

Anaesthesiologists Can Help Cut Climate Change: Gases used worldwide in surgical anaesthesia contribute the warming equivalent of a million cars, on average. Better anaesthesia choices can lessen the impact http://tinyurl.com/2uhgxrf

Bone-boring worm once had a taste for birds: Osedax worms might have had a more-rounded diet 30 million years ago http://is.gd/ik82V

Stressed out? It could be in your genes: To their surprise, neuroscientists have discovered that stress can be passed down the generations – and even though it can be harmful, there is a logical biological reason http://preview.tinyurl.com/28xe36z

Novel Metal Catalysts May Be Able to Turn Greenhouse Gases Into Liquid Fuels: It sounds a bit like spinning straw into gold, but novel metal catalysts may be able to turn greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide into liquid fuels without producing more carbon waste in … http://tinyurl.com/2ca9r8f

Killer Whales Mimic Friends and Foes: Orcas that don’t share the same dialect can still copy one another’s calls http://is.gd/ib1dC

The Myth of the ‘Missing Link’ in the March of Progress: When it comes to fossil discoveries, the term “missing link” should raise a red flag in your mind. It is almost always a sure indicator that the person employing it has only a very superficial understanding of the way evolution works http://tinyurl.com/24rxf9q

Online Game Drives Genetic Research: Playing online can mean more than killing time, thanks to a new game developed by a team of bioinformaticians. Now, players can contribute in a fun way to genetic .. http://tinyurl.com/252tfka

Super-Earth’s atmosphere analysed for first time: A planet 6.5 times as massive as Earth called GJ 1214b has an atmosphere dominated by steam or cloudy haze, new observations suggest http://is.gd/i4X2D

Food security wanes as world warms: Global warming may have begun outpacing ability of farmers to adapt http://tinyurl.com/3335msj

Lighting up chips gives computers a brain boost: Transistors that can handle both electrical and optical data could be used to build machines a thousand times faster than today’s computers http://tinyurl.com/2bgq59e

A billion people will lose their homes due to climate change, says report. British scientists will warn Cancún summit that entire nations could be flooded http://tinyurl.com/2cydj8c

Snake fangs evolved from groovy teeth: A set of 200-million-year-old teeth from a beast related to dinosaurs and crocodiles has shed light on how snake fangs evolved http://is.gd/hTPxY

Bioethics Commission to Investigate Guatemala Experiments and Current U.S. Human Research: President Obama has asked his bioethics council to review rules protecting human research subjects http://tinyurl.com/2cgt73u

Ships and buoys made global warming look slower: The apparent slowdown in global warming over the past decade is partly down to a change in the way sea-surface temperatures were measured http://tinyurl.com/38shmlx

Is China or the US the number one cause of global warming? It all depends how you look at the numbers, says a new analysis http://tinyurl.com/25uyab8

Dark energy on firmer footing: Geometric test supports the existence of a key thread in the fabric of the Universe http://tinyurl.com/2cqqyn9

Physicists Uncover How Snakes Soar between Trees: By studying video of gliding snakes in Asia, an engineer has figured out how they launch their sleek frames into the ether from tall trees and sail downward. By thrashing, the snakes reduce their fall speed and effectively move upward by overcoming the effect of gravity on their weight http://tinyurl.com/2d2hak3

Zoologger: Houdini fly inflates head to break walls: Sealed up in the dark inside a bee’s nest, Cacoxenus indagator has a monstrous trick to help it get out http://tinyurl.com/26bd9wq

Blood test to reveal age: Researchers have developed a new method of estimating a person’s age from their blood, which could give detectives investigating a crime a crucial lead http://tinyurl.com/39ejbhq

Gene Links to Anorexia Identified: Largest Genetic Study of the Eating Disorder Detects Common and Rare Variants http://tinyurl.com/27phnd6

Compound combats triple-negative breast cancer in lab: A compound that slows the proliferation of triple-negative breast cancer cells in lab tests could lead to drugs to target this aggressive tumour http://tinyurl.com/23mx7wr

Forgotten dreams? A call to investigate the mysteries of humanity: -Scientific illiteracy about the big bang or human evolution is worrisome, says physicist Lawrence Krauss, who’s on the Scientific American Board of Advisors, but worse, it demeans the human sense of wonder that thinking about the universe should provoke http://tinyurl.com/2bw7j3j

Scientists and musicians: separated at birth?: A campaign aims to raise the profile of science by pairing researchers with rock stars – and it turns out they might not be so different after all http://tinyurl.com/32urc3g

Storytelling 2.0: Adventures in a virtual reality cave: A virtual reality simulator may seem an unlikely home for writers, says Robert Coover, but they’re using it to invent a new art form http://tinyurl.com/34ohk9g

Earth may have had water from day one: The planet’s water came from the dust from which Earth was born – and not simply from comet or asteroid impacts, new calculations suggest http://tinyurl.com/34rlsq8

Researchers Use Math, Maps to Plot Malaria Elimination Plan: Two University of Florida researchers and their international colleagues have used mathematical models and maps to estimate the feasibility of eliminating malaria from countries that have the deadliest form of the disease http://tinyurl.com/3alxaj6

Hints of lightweight dark matter particle found in space: A relatively puny dark matter particle might be responsible for a gamma-ray glow at the centre of the Milky Way, says a pair of researchers – though others are sceptical http://tinyurl.com/3y3mj9c